


Occupational Hazard

by Burgie



Series: Katja Joins Team Good AU [52]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8010259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex has an accident while making potions, much to Katja's amusement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Occupational Hazard

Alex didn’t notice the burning smell at first. Many of the potions she made smelled pretty bad, which was why she usually burned incense. Today, though, she was working in Elizabeth’s house, and Elizabeth hated the smell of incense. So she had to put up with all sorts of terrible smells while she worked. It was strange, though. She sniffed the air. No potion that she knew of smelled like burning hair.

“Shit,” Alex cursed as she felt the heat near her face. She whirled around, aware that she was only feeding the fire, and dunked her head in the barrel of water used for cooling various potion tools. She pulled her head out of the barrel, shivering as water dripped down her back. At least she’d taken her tunic off this time, so she wouldn’t have to buy a new one. She walked across the room and grabbed her tunic off the chair it was draped over. She was just pulling it over her head when Katja walked in.

“Darn, a few seconds too late,” said Katja, pouting. And then she wrinkled her nose as she caught the smell. “What kind of potion smells like burning hair?”

“The ‘I’m a fucking idiot’ kind,” said Alex, taking her hat off and raking her fingers through her hair to see the damage. There were a lot of longer strands, but it was mostly short. She felt like some child’s attempt at hairdressing. Katja caught the motion and gasped, her eyes widening.

“Your hair,” said Katja, frowning as she ran her fingers through the longer parts. “What happened?”

“I forgot to tie it back when I was making potions,” said Alex, feeling stupid. “At least I caught it in time, though.”

“Oh, it’s not the end of the world,” said Katja.

“I like my hair long,” said Alex. “It took ages to grow.” She knew she sounded sulky, but she felt sulky. It did feel kind of nice to have Katja fussing over her like this, though. Her girlfriend was humming as she ran her fingers through Alex’s hair, and Alex could sense the magic. “What are you doing? Are you trying to grow it back with magic? Can you do that?”

“I can but I’d prefer to make a hair regrowth potion,” said Katja. “It’s been far too long since I made potions.”

“You made potions?” asked Alex. She knew that Katja was centuries old, but somehow she’d never pictured her girlfriend making potions.

“Yes,” said Katja. “I need scissors, are there any in here?”

“Why do you need scissors?” asked Alex.

“To make it an even length,” said Katja. “And to cut off the burnt ends.”

“Oh. Yeah, there should be some in here somewhere,” said Alex.

“Fetch them for me,” said Katja. “You can be my assistant.” She kissed Alex on the cheek, and Alex smiled as she did as she was bid.

“Have you ever burnt your hair off?” asked Alex as she returned with the scissors.

“Only once, and that’s why I made that potion,” said Katja. “Sit in that chair.” She went to stand behind Alex once her girlfriend was seated, and Alex smiled as she felt Katja’s fingers moving through her hair. The sound of the scissors snipping off hair made her flinch, but Katja murmured quietly to calm her.

“I’m not a horse,” said Alex. “You can talk to me.”

“What potion were you trying to make?” asked Katja.

“Sleeping potion,” said Alex. “Thomas Moorland has been having trouble sleeping, so he asked the druids to help him.”

“That’s understandable,” said Katja. “It hurts to lose your child.” Alex was silent. She hadn’t meant to bring that up.

“Sorry,” said Alex. “I didn’t mean to bring it back up.” There was silence except for the snipping sound of scissors.

“You look different with shorter hair,” said Katja. Her voice sounded falsely light. “I’ve never seen you with short hair before.”

“I bet it looks awful,” said Alex. Katja laughed, and this time there was some happiness.

“It actually looks kind of adorable,” said Katja. “Here, look.” She turned Alex to look at the mirror hanging on the wall.

“I guess,” said Alex. Her hair looked fluffy, oddly enough. Maybe it was thicker than she’d thought. “I still like my hair long, though.”

“Yes, and I do prefer girls,” said Katja. Alex grinned, pleased to hear her girlfriend happy again.

“Alright, so what do you need to make the potion?” asked Alex, turning to her girlfriend.

Katja gave her a list of ingredients, and Alex set out to find them. It felt different to feel the wind on her neck and ruffling her shorter hair. She hoped that nobody would see her.

“Are you trying to copy my style? Because the short-haired look only works on punky chicks like me.” Alex gritted her teeth and turned to face Lisa.

“I had a little accident,” said Alex. “Hair and fire don’t exactly mix, apparently.” Lisa laughed at her.

“Tie your hair back, you silly girl,” said Lisa. Alex glared at her and walked off to find the Greendale grass. Apparently it had magical properties.

When Alex finally returned to Katja, she found her girlfriend looking through her alchemy book with a look of interest in her blue eyes.

“I found everything,” said Alex. “Weird how the alchemic recipes send you across Jorvik.”

“Oh, good,” said Katja, looking up. “I might send you back out to find more stuff later. I really want to get back into potion-making.”

“The druids would thank you for it,” said Alex. “You’re the stuff of legends, apparently.”

“I am?” Katja’s eyes glittered with excitement, and Alex had to grin.

“Yeah, now that they’re not scared of you anymore, they’re all talking about how talented you are,” said Alex. “I didn’t even know half of this stuff.”

“They probably talked about it in a different way before,” said Katja. “But you didn’t listen because you love me too much.”

“True,” said Alex. “Can we talk while you fix my hair?” Katja laughed and set about making the potion.

“So they’d really trust me to make potions for them?” asked Katja as she ground things and mixed things and measured things.

“Yeah,” said Alex. “Like I said, they’d be honoured.” She watched Katja work, marvelling at her skill. She really had been doing it for years. “Is that why you wear all white?”

“Yes, actually,” said Katja. “How the hell did you not see it?” She laughed at Alex’s red face.

“It was silly of me,” said Alex. 

“My silly girl,” Katja cooed. She poured a little water into the mixture, then mixed it together. “Done. Now I have to rub this into your scalp and all over your hair.”

“Go ahead,” said Alex. She took her tunic off, noticing Katja’s eyes roaming down her body, and smirked. “Do you want me to take the sports bra off too?”

“Yes,” said Katja. Alex laughed at her but kept her clothes on. 

“Maybe when we’re back in our room, Kitty,” said Alex, sitting on the chair that she’d been on before to get her hair cut. Katja blushed and dumped the mixture onto Alex’s head, making her shiver at the coldness of it.

“Oops, sorry, I forgot to say that it was cold,” said Katja, not sounding sorry at all. Alex laughed, glad that her girlfriend wasn’t touchy around her anymore. Instead, Katja began to massage the mixture into Alex’s scalp, getting it all over her hair. Alex almost purred at how good it felt, closing her eyes in bliss.

“Can you massage other parts of my body too?” asked Alex.

“If you’re good,” said Katja. She smiled at Alex’s contented little sighs, making a mental note to offer to wash her hair. And the potion did need to be washed out…

Finally, the potion was all rubbed in. Katja stepped back from her work, noticing that she felt cold where Alex had been leaning against her.

“Alright, now it has to be washed out,” said Katja. “To the bathroom.”

“How long until my hair grows back?” asked Alex, getting up.

“It’ll be the length it was after you wash it,” said Katja, following her into the bathroom.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” asked Alex as she got into the shower.

“After you wash it out,” said Katja. “I don’t want to accidentally grow my hair. I like my hair the length it is.”

“So do I,” said Alex. Katja watched Alex’s hair grow back as the green mixture was washed out. Somehow, the potion knew just when to stop growing the hair. Unfortunately, it didn’t know what hair to grow, so it just grew everything.

“You might need this,” said Katja, handing Alex a razor as she stepped into the shower.

“Side effects,” Alex grumbled. She shaved her body hair while Katja tried to decide whether she preferred her girlfriend with or without it. Ultimately it was Alex’s choice, but she did wish that Alex would keep the fine golden hairs on her legs and arms. They would look so nice in the morning light.

Alex pulled Katja out of her thoughts with a kiss.

“You were staring,” said Alex, grinning. 

“Your body is asking to be stared at,” said Katja, stroking a hand down Alex’s arm. The skin did feel silky, she had to admit. Before she could get too caught up, though, Alex kissed her again, bringing her back to focus only on the girl kissing her under the shower.


End file.
